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What is Oceanbridge Sail Auckland?
It’s New Zealand’s premier sailing event for youth and Olympic classes and was formerly known as the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta.
For our young sailors, it's an excellent chance to rub shoulders with our leading athletes, and for those starting a new Olympic campaign, it's a valuable opportunity for competitive racing before they embark on the European season next month.
It's also a chance to test exciting new equipment and several new combinations.
According to event organiser Sam Mackay, Oceanbridge Sail Auckland is a rare chance for the country’s rising sailing talent to rig up alongside the top men and women.
"One of the really special things about the regatta is to have the youth sailors racing alongside Olympians as it creates a really cool connection between those top sailors and up-and-comers.
“It’s not that often that our youth sailors do an event alongside our Olympic campaigners and that engagement is a special feature of this weekend," Mackay said.
When and where will this year’s event be held?
The regatta will again be hosted by Torbay Sailing Club, from Friday, February 28 to Sunday, March 2.
Racing is expected to start at 12.30pm.
Oceanbridge Sail Auckland will be hosted by Torbay Sailing Club from February 28 to March 2. Photo / Jacob Fewtrell Media
How many sailors will be competing?
The 2025 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland will feature close to 120 sailors in the ILCA 6, ILCA 7, 420, 29er, 49er, 49erFX, kitefoil, wingfoil, and men's and women's windfoil.
This includes seven of the 12 Olympians who competed in Marseille in July and August last year - Lukas Walton-Keim, Tom Saunders, Greta Pilkington, Molly Meech, Erica Dawson, Veerle ten Have and Josh Armit.
Who should I keep an eye on?
There are several tantalising matchups to look forward to:
Kayrouz and McLaren vs Menzies and Rush vs Stanton and Shapland vs Bacon and McGlashan vs Coutts and Gunn (49er)
With 2024 Olympic silver medallists Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie not competing at this year's Oceanbridge Sail Auckland, the fleet is wide open.
Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren stole the spotlight in July last year when they won the silver medal at the junior world championships in Spain - despite Kayrouz suffering a broken foot a few months out from the event. Kayrouz has had plenty of success in the youth classes, having won the youth world championships in the 29er, and McLaren is an exceptional catamaran sailor.
Former 29er youth worlds medallists and junior world champions in the 49erFX, Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush finished fourth at the same junior worlds after leading in the early stages of the regatta and narrowly missed out on the gold fleet at the 2024 European championships at La Grande Motte International Regatta.
Campbell Stanton and Will Shapland finished an impressive 25th at La Grande Motte and are considered one of the most promising 49er crews around. As Yachting New Zealand development coach Markus Somerville explains: "Will and Campbell complement each other perfectly. They’re both highly intelligent and fast in a range of conditions. When they’re on, they’re one of the fastest teams in the world."
Two relatively new crews are also set to debut at Oceanbridge - Sam Bacon and Blake McGlashan have impressed with their boat handling and strong-wind manoeuvres since teaming up last year, while Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn will make their competitive debut at the event. In January, Coutts won the Moth world championships on home waters, while Gunn has long been among the top 49er crews globally. He previously sailed with Logan Dunning-Beck, who retired following a serious injury while campaigning for the Olympics last year.
Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren with coach Markus Somerville moments after winning the silver medal at the junior world championships in Spain. Photo / Supplied
You can read more about the rising stars in the domestic 49er fleet in the spring edition of YBQ here.
Cam Brown and Oli Stone vs Tessa Clinton and Amelia Higson (420)
All eyes in the 420 competition will be on two of the new teams.
After achieving significant success with Alex Norman, Cam Brown has joined forces with P Class prodigy Oli Stone; while Tessa Clinton and promising Starling sailor Amelia Higson will be hoping to add the Oceanbridge Sail Auckland title to their recent Auckland championship success.
Erica Dawson and Molly Meech vs the 49erFX fleet
Marseille bronze medallist Erica Dawson will jump out of the Nacra 17 and into the 49erFX with Molly Meech, who won Olympic silver in the class at Rio 2016.
Meech and Jo Aleh placed seventh at the Games last year and though Aleh has since retired from Olympic sailing, Meech and Dawson are only teaming up "for a bit of fun".
Still, they should be hard to beat despite the challenge posed by two pairs of siblings - Erin and Isla Kee and Nicola and Rebecca Hume.
Tom Saunders vs George Gautrey (ILCA 7)
The ILCA 7 sailors and training partners resume their "rivalry" at Oceanbridge Sail Auckland after a closely contested battle for the sole spot in the class at the 2024 Olympics.
George Gautrey, who won bronze at the combined world championships in The Hague in 2023, has recently returned to the class following some time off after being pipped to the spot by former world champion Tom Saunders, who finished seventh overall in Marseille.
The ILCA 7 squad has been training with British star Michael Beckett recently and with the quality of Saunders and Gautrey on display, should provide one of the highlights of the weekend.
Greta Pilkington vs Naiomi Ferrissey vs Chloe Turner (ILCA 6)
Greta Pilkington has gone from strength to strength since making her Games debut last year and looked unstoppable on her way to the overall national title in Nelson in January.
Naiomi Ferrissey didn't sail at the nationals but will be back this weekend and will no doubt draw on her previous success against Pilkington when she beat her at the 2024 national championships in Napier.
Chloe Turner is one of this country's top youth sailors and has grown rapidly in the class over the past year. The top youth girl at both nationals (2024 and 2025) she is capable of upstaging her more experienced competitors in favourable conditions.
Greta Pilkington made her Olympic debut in Marseille. Photo / World Sailing
Josh Armit vs Eli Liefting (men's windfoil)
Eli Liefting claimed a somewhat surprising win against Josh Armit at the 2025 windfoil national championships earlier this year, before the defending Oceanbridge Sail Auckland champ and fourth-place finisher in Marseille took the win at the FOIL Bay of Islands a few weeks later.
Both sailors are still getting to grips with the new sail sizes adopted by World Sailing earlier this year - women and youth women have moved from the 8m² sail to a new 7.3m² sail, while men have switched from the 9m² sail to an 8m² sail - but should deliver another thrilling battle in the fastest class on display.
See the complete list of entries here.
How can I follow the action?
Yachting New Zealand will have live text updates, video and pictures on its website and across its social channels. Follow the live updates here.
